I stood up and set Sydney down onto the bench. I peeled Daniel away from Brooke’s grasp and could see her shaking with the effort it took to keep herself upright. I set him down on the bench where he promptly wrapped his arms around his sister. Then, I gently gathered Brooke in my arms.
Brooke, the woman who had single-handedly saved my daughter.
“Thank you,” I said, breathlessly.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead as she buried herself into my body.
“You saved my little girl. I’ll never be able to repay you.”
Brooke wrapped her arms around me, her entire body trembling as tears poured from her eyes.
I scooped her up into my arms and backed myself over to the bench. I sat down with her in my lap and felt her relax into me. I turned my face and kissed her cheek, settling my lips on the swollen bruises on the side of her face.
“I’ll never be able to repay you,” I said again.
It was a long day of questions, and with each question the picture was painted for me. The basement of the house they were stowed away in. The general area where it was. How they had stripped Brooke of her clothes to find that tracking device, and how cold they had been at night. How Brooke didn’t let my daughter eat their food in case it had been poisoned or drugged, and how she had fought her way out of there.
To save herself. To save my daughter.
I was in awe of her. Of her strength, her resilience, and her unwavering dedication to my children.
The police tracked down the house they’d been held captive in, but everyon
e seemed to be gone. They had one man in custody, but he wasn’t talking at all. There were signs of Brooke and Sydney being held captive in the basement, but there weren’t any signs of any other men being there.
Gianni included.
Finally, I intervened on behalf of my family and forced the police to relinquish us. I took the girls to the local hospital to be checked over for any other injuries. I needed to make sure they were both alright. Satisfied with clean bills of health and instructions for Brooke to take it easy, I took us all home. Now that I had them both back in my care, I knew how to protect them. I armed my home the second we got inside and moved all of us upstairs. I was going to be within earshot of everyone until we could wrap this shit up and get off this fucking island.
The police promised regular patrols by my home while Gianni was on the loose, but I was going to do everything in my power to protect my family, Brooke included.
Sydney and Daniel took a long bath together while Brooke took a hot bath. I saw her wince as she touched one of her cheeks and I seethed inside with anger. That anyone would hit a woman was beyond me. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my hands around that motherfucker’s throat and squeeze the life out of him.
She stayed in the tub for an hour before she emerged—clean, clothed, and ready to sleep.
I tried ushering her into her bedroom, but she wanted to go see the kids first. Specifically, she wanted to see Sydney. She sat down on the edge of Sydney’s bed and stroked her wet hair back as tears fell from her cheeks. I stood in the doorframe and tried to keep ahold of my own emotions so Brooke could freely express hers.
She bent over and kissed my daughter’s cheek as she cried.
Without a word spoken, she slipped into bed next to my daughter. She cradled her closely as her shoulders shook with her sobs. I felt my jaw quivering as I leaned against the doorway, watching this woman I’d come to care for so much crying over my child’s sleeping body. She wrapped her arm around Sydney and my daughter turned into her, pressing deeply until the two of them seemed to appear as one.
Looking down at Daniel, I thought about crawling into bed with him before my phone vibrated in my pocket.
“Hello?” I asked as I slipped down the hallway.
“Kevin, it’s me.”
I sighed as Sarah’s voice assaulted my ear.
“I was going to call you in the morning,” I said.
“I got a call from the police. They found her?” she asked.
“They did. Sydney’s back home.”
“Oh my gosh.”
I furrowed my brow as muffled cries came from Sarah’s end of the phone.